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Butler Basketball: Keys to success at Villanova in 2019-20

By Lukas Harkins

PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 02: Aaron Thompson #2 of the Butler Bulldogs shoots the ball against Jermaine Samuels #23 of the Villanova Wildcats in the first half at the Wells Fargo Center on March 2, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 02: Aaron Thompson #2 of the Butler Bulldogs shoots the ball against Jermaine Samuels #23 of the Villanova Wildcats in the first half at the Wells Fargo Center on March 2, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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PHILADELPHIA, PA – MARCH 02: Thompson of the Bulldogs controls. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – MARCH 02: Thompson of the Bulldogs controls. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

1. Take care of the ball and crisply move it.

Butler’s biggest issue since the beginning of conference play has been a lack of disciplined ball movement. After excelling offensively by constantly moving the ball side-to-side and limiting turnovers through the first two months of the season, the Dawgs have severely lacked in this category as of late. The team has seemingly lost a bit of its confidence with regard to attacking pressure and is being relegated to isolation sets instead of creating for each other.

Butler currently ranks dead-last in the Big East in both assist (40.8% of FGM) and turnover rates (22.6% of possessions) since the start of conference play. These numbers represent a stark difference in offensive play considering the Dawgs posted an assist rate of 57.9% and a turnover rate of 16.3% during the non-conference portion of the season. This change since the turn to 2020 has easily been the most concerning development for Butler and it needs to be remedied.

Aaron Thompson, most notably, needs to return to his usual self. Butler’s junior point guard is definitely in the midst of a playmaking slump and that is hurting the team as he is so vital to success on both ends of the floor. Here is a look at how Thompson has performed as of late compared to the first several games of the season:

  • Non-conference play (13 GP): 75 assists to 23 turnovers (3.26)
  • Big East conference play (5 GP): 16 assists to 16 turnovers (1.00)

Thompson is so integral to Butler’s scheming on both ends of the floor that he is the key to returning to the team to its prior form. He is not the only cause of Butler’s turnover problems but a resurgence from him could push the team to return to taking care of the ball better as a whole. As it stands right now, Thompson (36.0%, 1st), Bryce Nze (34.0%, 2nd), and Jordan Tucker (25.5%, 8th) all rank in the Top 10 of the highest individual turnover rates in Big East play. Not good.

Butler needs to fix this issue.